Duncan ‘much better’ after grinding through Game 1

Indeed, Tim Duncan was on the court for a grand total of seven seconds down the stretch as the Spurs fought back in Monday’s Game 1 from a 16-point deficit in the final four minutes of regulation before stunning Golden State in double overtime.

Not because he didn’t want to play.

But because he simply had nothing left after the intestinal bug that forced him to skip practice last Saturday reared its head as the game wore on.

“Rough night last night, getting over this sickness,” Duncan said. “It kind of caught up to me later in the game. But probably the best thing for the team was me was going out.

“I couldn’t (play) at that point. I wanted to, but I was hurting us out there. I couldn’t move. It was the right thing to do for me to get out of there. I knew I’d have some difficulty. I just didn’t think it would be at that level.”

Duncan still made an impact, putting up 19 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes before head coach Gregg Popovich sent him to the locker room with 4:31 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“It became pretty apparent that he wasn’t going to tell me the truth anymore,” Popovich said, “so I had to pull the plug myself. He’s a competitor and he didn’t want to come off the floor.”

Said Manu Ginobili, “I realized in a timeout, where his eyes were lost and he couldn’t raise his head. Pop was talking to him and he was…staring at the floor.”

The Spurs’ deficit ballooned to 16 moments moments after Duncan left, all but sealing their fate. Indeed, the Elias Sports Bureau discovered that teams had been 0-392 in the postseason when trailing by at least 16 with four minutes or fewer left.

That’s when the Spurs pulled off the virtually impossible, almost all without the services of their perennial All-Star post.

“It was unbelievable,” he said. “I was in the locker room watching it, and I see us getting closer and closer. I debated even coming back out there. Whatever superstition it might be, I wanted to stay right where I was. It felt bad coming out there and they get a lead again.”

“It was great just to see the guys and everything going the way we wanted to go. A lot of credit to Golden State; they were unbelievable. Steph Curry put on a show out there. But we stuck with it and used every minute that we had. It was just an unbelievable game to be a part of.”

Mostly. Duncan returned for only two more possessions after leaving in the fourth — the final six seconds of overtime No. 1, and the last second of overtime No. 2.

Roughly 12 hours later, he said he’d already improved following a light workout on Tuesday.

“Much better today,” Duncan said. “Another day and a half, I hope to have it out of my system.”